Confessions of a Crime Fighting Father
by BuringBright222
Summary: "Admit it, you need him." Batman doesn't want to drag Richard Grayson into the dark world of crime fighting, but is there really a choice?
1. The News

**Yeah! I'm back, well I wasn't gone but details.**

**I just had this thought. I hope you all like it!**

**Enjoy!**

"Admit it Batman, you need him." Wonder Woman said to the dark crusader. They were in the Watchtower, waiting for the yearly JL meeting to begin. They were deciding on who to add as new members again.

_Soon we are going to have way to many members and it is going to get crowded._ Batman thought sulkily.

"What do you mean?" Batman asked Wonder Woman. Superman flew in.

"I believe she is talking about that ward you took in three months ago."

"Clark, why are you butting in?" Batman snapped. He knew he shouldn't have adopted the boy so publically.

"Why did you do it then?"

"It was to repay a favor to the boy's father."

"So you adopted him? Most people would just make sure the kid had a home." Wonder Woman pointed out.

"I didn't adopt him. He isn't American, so I'm just his guardian."

"If you didn't adopt him, then what is he doing in your house."

"He is my ward until I find him an appropriate home." Batman was typing at the computer, his back to the other two founders of JL. He heard Flash and Green Lantern come in.

"That is cruel, Bruce." Flash said.

"You have no respect for identities do you Barry." Hal Jordan said. Barry laughed. Batman scowled, deeper.

"I can't take in a kid. Besides, Alfred is aging; he can't take care of a kid that hangs off my crystal chandeliers when he is stressed." Batman remembered the incident, not fondly.

"Oh, Bruce, just train him. You know, do the whole self-control thing you ninjas do!" Barry piped up. He had chips in his hands; from where, no one knew. The other members thought having an eight year-old hang off of chandeliers would be cute.

"Bruce, why did you take him out of the orphanage then?"

"Have you seen how the kids get treated there? They fired the one nun who actually cared about the kids! Dick was being bullied and actually beat up!"

"So you were watching him?" Hal asked.

"I told you, I'm repaying a favor to his dad."

"Did you just call the kid 'dick'?" Barry asked. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Your nephew is getting to you; 'Dick' is short for 'Richard." Wonder Woman replied. Barry smiled sheepishly.

"Why are you denying that you need Richard anyway?" Clark asked.

"I don't want him to get hurt. Also, the boy is bright. He almost caught me sneaking back into my manor three days ago." Batman admitted. The dark clad hero turned to his peers. "Also, the boy is already scarred for life."

"How?" Barry asked. The bat-glare he received was twice as terrifying as normal.

"Bruce! Why didn't you tell me immediately!" Oliver, Green Arrow, came into the room, saw the crowd, and stopped. "Is the meeting in here?"

"No, it's just Bruce here was thinking about what to do with his ward." Wonder Woman said. Ollie, as he was called by his friends, smiled.

"Little Dicky? He is a cutey. Saw the news just now. I was shocked that Gotham's main playboy had just adopted a circus orphan!"

"I didn't adopt him. It is illegal until certain papers go through the system."

"Are you going too eventually?"

"I think I'd rather get him into a safe home."

"Idiot!" Ollie said. Batman glared, this one, Barry noted, was just the normal bat-glare.

"Richard should have died too." Barry said. Everyone whipped their heads to give shocked, slack-jawed faces at Barry. Batman's glare was so fierce; everyone near him took a step away. Batman walked slowly towards Barry, and no one stopped him.

"I knew it!" Barry said, unaware of his impending doom. "You are protective of het boy already!" That actually caught Batman by surprise, and he stopped his advancement.

"What do you mean?" Clark said, though he thought he understood. A smile started to spread on Superman's face. The realization spread across the room. Hal and Ollie began to snicker.

"Well, when anything that might be painful or insulting for Dick is said, Batman your whole demeanor changes. Like your normal bat-glare was more like Superman's laser eyes! I almost wet myself!" Barry said, then realizing what he had just said, shut up.

"Ok, too much there, Flash." Hal said. Batman stood in thought. Barry sighed. He had been worried his experiment might have gone over board, and had been worried about his face.

"Barry is right. Ever since Dick came into your house, if anyone talks about the circus news, you give them this painful glare." Clark said, smiling openly now. Batman sighed.

"I don't like Gotham's news to be talked about all the time." The excuse was lame, but Batman made it sound convincing."

"That doesn't explain why your bat-glare is more powerful." Flash said, moving his arms trying to prove his point.

"Bat-glare?" Batman asked. He watched his teammates snicker.

"Oh, Barry here started to call your glares Bat-glares after your various bat-themed named vehicles." Hal exclaimed.

"I don't name my vehicles." Batman said.

"I never said you did."

"What do people call my vehicles?"

"Um, Bat-plane, Bat-car, Bat-copter, Bat-submarine…"

"The last two don't even make since!"

"They call Ace your Bat-dog." Clark said.

"This is what happens when Joker breaks out when you're walking your dog." Batman said in exasperation. He even put his hand to his head. "Public." He muttered. Just then, a red alert went off on the screen. The JL snapped to attention, other's ran into the main room to hear what had happened. Jason Todd's face, in his Robin guise, appeared on the screen.

"What happened?" Batman asked. Jason opened his mouth, when a hand wrapped around his head and a green mop of hair appeared on the screen, followed by a sickly clown face. Batman clenched his fists so hard, the leather creaked.

"Hi world! Hi Batty! I found your little friend while he was hurting a mugger! Isn't he rude? Anyway, I have a question for you. Do you know that circus brat from the murder two weeks ago? Do you know what happened to him?" Joker's laughter echoed cruelly everywhere. Jason angled his face away from Joker's. Joker started to pet Jason.

"Well, I found him!" Joker threw back his head and laughed. Jason thrashed in the chair he was tied in. Batman felt rage build up inside him. The rest of the JL felt the room grow cold.

Joker threw Jason's chair to the ground revealing the room behind him. Everyone saw a cage hanging off the floor a couple of feet. On the floor of the cage was a little, black-haired boy. The boy looked unconscious, but then he raised his head. He blinked his eyes sleepily. Joker spun up to the boy.

"Hi-ya boy!" Joker said in a falsely sweet tone.

"B. J?" the boy asked. Joker laughed.

"Oh, do I look like a friendly clown?" The boy reached towards Joker, and Joker grabbed the boy's hand. Batman felt bile in his throat. Joker yanked the boy towards him so hard the boy rammed into the bars of the cage. The boy yelped and tried to pull away. "I'm not a friendly clown." Joker hissed in the boy's face.

"Să mergem clovn rău!" The kid yelled. Batman felt a strange bit of pride at the kid's spunk.

"Well, world, you have two hours to bring me 2 billion dollars, otherwise t his cute little, itty-bitty, orphan will die! Oh, the weird bird-kid over there will too! Have fun!" Joker clicked a remote, and the screen went blank. Hawkwoman put her hands to her mouth. She leaned into her husband.

"How could he?" She asked.

"I do not think that Richard and Jason are in too much trouble yet, Batman, what do you want to do?" Martian Manhunter asked. He looked to his left, and was surprised to not see the caped crusader***** next to him.

"It shall always be a mystery to my how I cannot notice his presence with my powers.' J'hn said.

"I want to know how he does that dissappeary thingy." Flash said, waving his arms again. Clark sighed.

"He probably doesn't want our help" Superman said.

"So we are going to find him and help him against his will as usual right?" Hal asked.

"Of course." Wonder Woman said seriously. She led the way out of the Watchtower. Flash, Hal, Superman and J'hn followed her.

"She really knows how to boss you men around doesn't she?" Hawkwoman asked. Her husband smiled and hugged her before going to provide technical support.


	2. Assistance needed

**Chapter 2! **

**I did not think this would be multi-chaptered.**

**I forgot to tell you all, but the Romanian phrase in the last chapter meant **

"**Let go you bad clown!"  
Also, I love calling Batman the Caped Crusader, it is so allterationy!**

**Enjoy!**

Unknown Location: 5 pm.

Jason blinked his eyes wearily. He had been up for the past 12 hours. He wasn't going to sleep knowing that Joker was near. It was the least Jason could do for Dick. How had he let this happen? One minute he was sneaking through the manor after a patrol without trouble, when he heard a gunshot and a scream. He ran up the stairs, forgetting he was still in uniform. He ran right into the barrel of a gun. He felt his blood run cold at what he saw. Besides the gun at his forehead, the new kid, Richard, was thrown over the shoulder of a man in a disgusting purple suit, Alfred had a bleeding shoulder and the windows were smashed. Before he could send a message to Batman, the gun in his face was raised and brought down on his head and the world went dark.

When he had awoken, his head throbbed, and the terrifying laughter echoed around him. Jason clenched his eyes shut and counted to ten, controlling his fear. He heard foot steps and opened his eyes.

"Well, well, bird-man, what were you doing in Wayne's house at five am? Eh, it doesn't matter. Knowing Batman, you were asked to keep an eye on the circus freak weren't you? That is very convenient! Oh, it is almost time! Come, let's shoot something!" Joker reached over Jason and turned on a camera. The red flashing light blinked slowly. Jason didn't know what was going to happen, but since Joker wasn't doing anything, Jason didn't think the camera was recording. Jason barely didn't jump when Joker's face appeared right next to his. While Joker gave his message, Jason sent one of his own.

Shoulder twitch, upper lip twitch- Alfred shot in shoulder.

Eyebrows twitch- don't know where I am.

Turn face away from Joker's – bad breath and others in trouble too.

Jason begged God that Batman would remember there inside jokes. Jason watched Richard in worry. The kid hadn't fallen asleep either. Jason wondered if the circus boy was use to late, or no sleep, nights.

Jason looked at the clock on the wall. It was counting down the hours. 1 hour left. From his math, which really wasn't Jason's strong point, Jason figured that Joker's clock had started right when they had recorded the message. The message had been released five minutes ago.

_Dirty trick Joker._ Jason felt despair. How would Batman know that the video hadn't specifically said when the clock had started? Jason looked over at Richard. Jason hadn't talked to the kid since when he wasn't with Batman he was in his own apartment trying to start an art career.

_We'll get out of this kid. I promise._ Jason sighed. He wasn't 18, but he owned a home, had a good car, was already 2 years into an art graduate program, and responsible for the death of his family. Jason looked at Richard again. Could this kid feel the same as he did? From what Jason knew, the kid hadn't reported seeing Tony, the murderer, the night his parents died. Jason felt a strange bond to the kid. Maybe because the kid reminded him of his own brother who had died in a gun fight. Jason sighed. He had to save them. When Jason looked up a third time, the kid was staring at him. Jason was shocked at how large and innocent those eyes were. Jason felt he was staring into a cloudless sky, but also that nightfall was coming from the darker streaks in the eyes.

"Puteţi lupta?" The kid asked. Jason sighed, he had forgotten the kid was horrible at English.

"Kid, I only speak English and Spanish." Jason dropped his head and focused on getting out of his bonds. He didn't see the kid's eyes light up.

"You speak Spanish?" The kid asked in Spanish. Jason looked up.

"Yeah, what do want?"

"Do you fight? Are you with Batman? Or Superman?" the kid asked. Jason sighed. Everyone always remembered Superman.

"Yeah, I'm Robin. What is your name?" Jason knew it, but he wanted the kid to trust him.

"Richard. Most people call me Dick, or Birdy, but I hate the name Birdy. Call me Dick." The kid rattled. Jason was pretty sure the kid was just talking out of fear.

"Cool. Well, Dick, I just got out of my bonds, but I'm going to pretend they are still there, ok?" the bright blue eyes were wide, but showed comprehension.

"When I give a signal, get far away from me as possible ok? Also close your eyes ok?" Dick nodded.

"Is Batman coming?" Jason froze. Would Batman come in time? Jason hadn't a clue where they were. How would they make their escape?

"I don't know! Hey, you really like Batman don't you?" Jason tried to distract the kid.

"I do, but he failed." The kid said sadly. Jason felt his heart skip a beat.

"What?"

"He didn't save mommy, or daddy. I thought Batman always saved everyone! That is why I'm going to help him someday." Dick looked up at Jason a smiled.

"You're helping him too? Maybe we will work together! Batman needs help if there are a lot of bad clowns like the guy who kidnapped us!" Dick yawned. Jason thought the Dick look tired.

"Sounds like a plan.' Jason said.

Batman wanted to scream. He raced home. When he got there his suspicions were revealed true. He knew Jason wouldn't normally react so animatly to a villain. In the kitchen, Alfred was just finishing wrapping his shoulder.

"Master Bruce! I would have called you immediately, but it took a while for the chloroform to wear off enough to be functional." Alfred said, his demeanor was still rather sluggish.

"It is fine Alfred. Wait, what do you mean immediately?" Batman asked, assisting his butler.

"Well, if I remember what the clock said, Master Richard and Master Todd were taken captive just over an hour ago." Alfred said. Batman finished bandaging the wound. Alfred looked at Batman in confusion.

"What?" Batman growled slightly.

"Well, Master Bruce, I must say you are very worried to not notice company." Alfred said. Batman turned around and saw the leaguers who had followed him. Batman cursed and just glared at them.

"Batman, we are here to help." Wonder Woman said.

"Well, did you at least find out where they are?" Batman growled. Who offered to help, then didn't show anything that actually helped?

"Told you he would say that." Flash muttered. J'hn stepped foreword.

"My friend, we have found a lead. Hawkman replayed the video, and noticed that the inside of the room was that of a stage with black curtains. We believe they are in a theatre." The Martian said. Batman stopped to think for a minute.

"I know of 200 theatres near here that have the ability to hold such a large cage." Batman pulled out his wrist computer. "116 are reserved for private use. 95 have excluded guest lists. 46 are from sketchy renters, and 23 are being rented by sketchy renters. 10 have black curtains." Batman stopped, that was as far as he could narrow it down.

"How does the man get that much information in five seconds?" whispered Ollie to Flash. Flash snickered.

"He is the God damn Batman." Flash muttered under his breath. Ollie nodded slowly.

"The stage looked about 30 feet deep." Superman said. Batman typed that in.

"That leaves 8 stages."

"Um, what if the stage still isn't anywhere near here?" Hal asked. Batman turned to him.

"Joker took the hostages just over an hour ago. The video was released five minutes ago… Oh no."

"What?"

"I thought I had more time; that was a dirty trick Joker." Batman growled.

"Batman, explain." Wonder Woman demanded.

"Joker took them just over an hour ago. He said we had two hours to get the money. He must have started the timer as soon as he got to the theatre!" Batman typed a few more things into his computer. "If we are looking at a time range of 1 hour ago, only one theatre is open as early as 4 pm." The JL team looked at him strangely. "If you guys knew anything about theatre, they always let people in no earlier than an hour before the show, which, at earliest, is 8 pm." The other Leaguers nodded. "Alfred, send out calls. Get the money prepared just in case.' Batman left the kitchen with a swish of his cape.

"Ok. Let's go." Clark said. This time everyone followed Superman.

**Hi! Ok, what did I want to tell you guys about?**

**Oh yeah, anyone remember Hawkwoman's name? Or Hawkman's.**

**I hope you guys are enjoying my story!**

**Love,**

**Burning Bright.**


	3. It's ok

**Chapter 3!**

**I am loving this story. I should really be writing my English essay… **

**Enjoy!**

Theatre on 3rd street 5:30 pm

Jason was worried now. There was half and hour left. Joker hadn't entered the room, had he hear Jason was free? Jason was getting paranoid. He didn't want to act too early, he had done that before and if had been a bad, bad idea. Finally, Jason heard footsteps. A lot of footsteps.

_Great, Joker brought friends._ Jason thought.

_I for one, am no friend of Joker._ A voice rang through Jason's head. Head Jumped out of his seat and pulled out two bird-a-rangs. Dick jumped up to. The younger boy quickly bounced to the far side of the cage. Jason watched the entrance, ready to fire, when Batman dropped next to him.

"You can relax Robin." The familiar voice said. Jason smiled up towards his mentor, and lowered his weapons as the other leaguers came in.

"I'm honored you thought you needed everyone to save us." Jason said. At that moment, everyone turned to look into the cage. It was empty.

"Where did he go!" Jason yelled. Batman was the first to look up. Dick Grayson has slipped through the bars and was balanced on the top of eth cage.

"You could slip through the bars?" Jason asked in disbelief, and Spanish. Dick nodded.

"The kid speaks Spanish?" Hal asked. Jason nodded.

"We are going to return you to Wayne Manor, is that ok Richard?" Batman asked, in Romani. Dick scowled. The scowl was adorable.

"I have a strange urge to go and inch his cheeks." Flash said.

"I have the same urge." Wonder Woman said in shock. Jason snickered.

"Why don't you want to go to the manor?" Batman asked. J'hn had everyone on a telepathic link so they could understand.

"Bad clown is blocking the door; I don't like the bad clown." Dick said. Jason, who remembered that Dick called Joker the bad clown, was the first to whip around. He was followed by Batman, then the other heroes. Joker was leaning against the door, spinning a ring of keys, whistling, and holding a big gun.

"Hi-ya!" Joker said happily. "Isn't this fun? All of us here, it is like a party!" Joker laughed loudly. "hey, Grayson, I brought a friend with me tonight!" Joker yelled. Out of the shadows next to him, a tall black-haired man with gray streaks appeared. The man had a cigar in one hand and was wearing a blue pin-stripe suit. Joker laughed. Dick stiffened up. Batman glared.

"Oh, Batman, please do something to save this poor boy!" Joker said in a falsely sympathetic voice. "Can't you do anything? Try it!" Joker laughed. Batman, and everyone else was very confused.

"Batman," Dick said, in heavily accented English, "I am sorry." Batman turned to the boy, and saw a blinking light on the boy's chest. He could just make out the numbers 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

Dick flipped off the cage towards Joker. Batman reached out to catch him, but the kid jumped out of the way. The 1 ticked off, and gas erupted from the bomb. Batman recognized the green color.

"Hold your breath!' He ordered. Everyone did so. Joker just laughed. Tony calmly smoked his cigar. When the smoke cleared, Batman looked up and saw the gas dispenser on the ground, but no Dick. Joker stopped laughing.

"Where is he?"

"Heh, the boy is a Grayson. Those upstarts have a bad habit of not staying on the ground. The world should thank me actually. I proved that no one can fly, I grounded the Flying Graysons!" The cigar man laughed a deep throaty laugh.

"Zucco, you should have stayed in your safe house." Batman growled.

"This is the punk who…" Jason started. Just then, Joker started firing into the ceiling.

"Found you!" Joker yelled. Looking up, the heroes could see a small from jumping rafter to rafter.

"Dick!" Jason yelled. The heroes jumped into action. Everyone, except Batman and Jason, charged Zucco and Joker. Zucco raised his eyebrows, turned and ran off. Flash was about to pursue when Joker turned his, now identified as, machine gun at the on coming heroes.

Batman let his colleges take care of Joker. He was more worried about Dick. Using grappling hooks, Bat and bird shot into the ceiling. They found Dick hudling on a beam over the middle of the seats.

"Dick, come over here!" Batman called. Dick looked up and him and started to stand. No one saw the shadow of the man in the V.I.P. seats. Batman heard the gun just before he saw its effect. Dick jumped just as the bullet ripped past. The small, metal coated bullet ripped into Dick's arm. It didn't hit the small boy, but it did affect how the boy fell through the air. One minute the boy was jumping into the safety of Batman's arms, the next, he fell short of the beam and was falling. Batman quickly secured a zipline, and dropped down. Batman caught the boy, who was gripping his bleeding arm. Batman looked up and saw Robin had crossed to where the bullet originated from. Then the boy began laughing.

Of course the kid probably didn't hold his breath! He had never experienced Joker Venom, he wouldn't know. The kid had jumped to get to higher ground, to make it so Joker's target wasn't so close to others. Batman felt guilt seep into his heart.

"Dick, Dick. This will only hurt for a second." Batman said. Batman heard Robin land next to him.

"No, this can't be happening!" Jason said. Batman administered the Joker Venom antidote. After a few minutes, the boy fell into a fitful slumber.

"He is going to have some horrible nightmares tonight." Batman said. Jason nodded. Batman looked to the other leaguers, who had Joker unconscious and tied to a pole.

"Zucco got away."

"It's ok, we just have to get Dick home now."


	4. Holding hands

**Chapter 4. Hi!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**

**I, sadly, so not own these characters, or anything. **

**Still, Enjoy!**

Dick cracked open his eyes. The sunlight streamed in his window. There was an old man at the window opening the curtains further. Dick liked how the sunlight warmed his face.

"Ab Uruguay." Richard mumbled. The old man, Alfred turned.

"Master Richard! How are you this morning? Would you like some food?" Dick nodded. "What would you like?" the kindhearted butler asked.

"Why didn't he tell me?" Dick said his accent still very heavy. Alfred scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

"Tell you what, Master Richard?"

"Do you know?"

"Know what, Master Richard?"

"I want eggs and sausage." Dick said, trying to sit up more. Alfred came up to the boy, and slid him up before he could put weight on his arm. Alfred spun the boy around and undid the buttons on the nightgown the boy wore. Last night, when he had been putting the boy to bed, he had the boy wear long, black, soft cotton pants and a matching nightshirt. Alfred sighed, hoping the boy wouldn't notice his arm. Bruce had been very worried, that and had brought home 5 unexpected guest!

"Master Bruce, I should scold that man." Alfred muttered under his breath. Dick, who had just done an adorable one arm up, lean back yawn, looked at Alfred sleepily. Alfred chortled. "It is a good thing I don't need to scold you!" Alfred said with laughter in his voice. Dick smiled.

Alfred, who had finished unbuttoning the nightgown, brought Dick a soft, loose, red cotton shirt. He also brought some black sweat pants. They had yet to get the boy some, in Alfred's mind, decent clothes.

"My arm hurts." Dick said. Then, Dick looked at his still bare arm, just as Alfred puts the shirt over his head. Alfred eases the injured arm through the sleeve, bit Dick put his left arm through the other sleeve quickly.

"Yes, it wasn't deep, just like a half-inch cut. It might hurt for a little while, but it will heal and not even scar." Alfred said soothingly.

"Did Batman save me?" Dick asked, looking at his feet.

"Yes, now finish dressing and I shall make you pancakes." Alfred turned and smiled as he heard the boy getting ready behind him.

Eight minutes and 13 minutes later, Dick came down the steps sliding down the banister. When he got to het bottom, he used the momentum to throw his legs in the air and do a handstand. This is how he always went down the stairs, but he always thought no one was watching. Dicks arm throbbed so much, he almost fell over, but the acrobat pushed off the banister and landed on his feet. He gripped his throbbing arm. Dick blinked away his tears, then skipped into the kitchen.

"Hey, Alfred! Can I eat pancakes now?"

"The correct phrasing is, 'may I eat some pancakes now.'" The gentle butler corrected.

The mentors who had been hiding in various spots, watching Dick, gathered into the living room. Bruce was sagged in a leather chair, open hand over his eyes.

"Well, that boy is tough." Hal said, sitting down to drink the amazing coffee Alfred had made. Bruce nodded, silent.

"Bruce?" Diana asked. No answer.

"I am actually surprised on how difficult you are making this, Bruce." Clark started. "It is obvious you wouldn't be able to sleep if you didn't know where the kid was 24/7." Clark smiled into his coffee mug. No visual response from Bruce. The heroes heard some thunking as a person clambered down the stairs. Jason appeared in the doorway.

"Thanks for the room tonight, sir. I'll be back at 11." The young man threw on his shirt and left. No one knew that a certain circus boy was watching the front lawn and had seen the familiar figure leave.

"Bruce, do you even need to think about it? Jason would be ticked if you didn't keep him." Shayera said, sipping her coffee. Bruce uncovered his eyes and huffed.

"I don't want him to get into anymore trouble. If I could get Zucco behind bars this would be so much easier. What if Dick…" Bruce stopped when he saw his young ward walk into the room. Bruce had a fleeting thought of 'thank goodness no one is in uniform' when Dick pointed at Oliver and yelled "Green Arrod!" Flash of course burst into laughter.

"Kid? It is pronounced Green Arrow, but why are you calling me that?" Ollie said, pride and secret I.D. battling inside him.

"Huh? It not obvious? You the same shape." Dick said, tilting one head to the side. Ollie's jaw dropped. Dick wasn't done though. "Black haired lady is Wonder Lady, and that is Flashy, and the Martian, and Superman!" Dick seemed really proud of himself. Bruce stood up tiredly.

"Richard, I think you must be tired. You were out late and got injured. Why don't we visit the doctor so that cut can be looked at by a professional?" Bruce knew very few people could beat Alfred in the medical field, but that was part of the cover. Dick frowned.

"No. That guy that left was Robin! I want you to tell the truth!" Dick crossed his arms, but flinched when he brushed his injury. Bruce stood tall and looked at Dick curiously.

"Why do you think that my guests are superheroes?" Bruce asked. Dick looked at Bruce carefully, suspicion bright in his eyes.

"In circus, everyone wears mask. You don't use face to recognize the guy responsible for your gear, you life-line, and your family." Dick's voice grew bitter. Dick was also giving a very good impression of the bat-glare.

"Mister Wayne, I wanna get even with Zucco." Dick sounded more scared then angry, but Bruce recognized the stance the young boy in front of him held. Had he not done the same to Alfred when his parents had been murdered?

"No. Go back and finish your breakfast." Bruce ordered.

"No to you! You not my Tati!" Dick yelled, then the boy turned and ran into the kitchen.

"What is a Tati?" Flash/Barry asked.

"Father." Bruce said. The dark man walked out of the room silently, but before he left, "I trust you will all be out of my city by nightfall?" Everyone was out by noon.

"I don't want to leave!" Dick cried into Alfred's arms. The man had been surprised to find the boy behind him, eyes brimming with tears. At first the boy said his arm hurt, but he had barreled into Alfred's arms, crying.

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked.

"Mister Wayne, he, he said he wasn't going to keep me here! I don't want to leave! I like it here, I like Mister Wayne!" Dick cried.

"I heard you say Master Wayne's guests were superheroes." Alfred said. Dick nodded.

"They are, but Mister Wayne was the hardest to find out. Did you know he is Batman? I knew. I knew when I first met Mister Wayne. My tati talked about Batman like a hero. Mister Wayne is my hero, but he is Batman too. I can tell when he frowns. I don't want him to frown. He is grumpy. He wants me to leave, I don't want to. Alfred, don't let me leave!" Alfred looked straight into the young boys eyes. He then saw Bruce's shadow in the doorway.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Alfred prompted, gentling guiding the boy to the large man. The two stared at each other, sharing a private conversation, just by staring.

"Richard, would you like to stay?"

"Yes sir."

"Would you like to learn?"

"Yes sir."

"Can you keep secrets?"

"Yes sir."

"Are you willing to save other kids so they won't end up like you, or me?"

"I would, sir."

"Richard Grayson, will you please be my ward and maybe we can help each other." Bruce said, smiling softly. Oh he was never letting this kid go, he loved the boy already.

"Well then, welcome to the Wayne manor." Bruce said.

"Sir? Can I help Batman?"

"We'll see." Dick smiled brightly. Bruce knew what his colleagues would think of him letting an 8 year old boy help him, but this kid was special.

"Dick, why don't you follow me?" The dark knight took the circus boy's hand and lead him down the tunnel that would be their life for years to come.


End file.
